Sisters and Brothers,
Events are dramatically unfolding in the so-called "Crude Oil Saga". It has since emerged that Yaya Jammeh used some the proceeds of crude oil given to the people of the Gambia to finance his presidential campaign in 1996. This in itself is not at all surprising, since it is a well-known fact that Yaya Jammeh is depleting our merger resources for his personal exaltation. What is astonishing about all this, is the attitude of some members of our National Assembly.
When a National Assembly is ineffective in its dealings, the nation is bound to go to "Kingdom Come". Since the Gambia claims to have a constituent assembly, it is the honest and impartial duty of every elected person to represent and safeguard the interest of his or her constituents in Parliament. But reports emerging are giving the impression that our National Assembly is more a partisan gathering to defend the selfish interest of Yaya Jammeh and not that of the people.
What puzzles me, and I think many Gambians, is that most of these parliamentarians embraced Yaya Jammeh because he came out strongly against the corruption of Jawara's government. But now that the very Yaya Jammeh who spoke so vehemently against those corrupt practices is, himself, entangled in what he condemned, the people's deputation are dallying in factional politics.
The Crude Oil Issue should transcend all political affiliations. It is of national concern. It is the duty of all those given the mandate to represent the Gambian people to see to it that all proceeds from that oil "deal" or any other deal, go into the national coffers. The National Assembly is the only institution, in our constitution, that can prevent what Christian H. Beddies of the IMF calls "inappropriate fiscal and monetary policies" and what the man in the street knows simply as thieving.
Parliament is supposed to be the rod, ruler and rudder of good governance, but when its members are negligent of their duties, it can transform a nation to a circus of mismanagement, misappropriation, "miseverything" and instability. Worst of all, it can also produce a despot who, because of the inertia of some members of parliament, believes that he is a demigod. Leaders like Idi Amin, Nana Boukassa, Joseph Mabuto, Adolph Hitler and Papa Doc were made what they turned out to be, by the ineptitude of their parliaments. Judging from Yaya's track record, he is rapidly approaching those leaders. The only people who can peacefully prevent the Gambia from such degeneration are our members Parliament. These people somewhat underestimate the power the people invested on them. They somehow failed to realise that they are Yaya Jammeh's makers. Whatever Yaya Jammeh is doing or not doing, in the Gambia today, our members of parliament are directly responsible. It is hard to believe that these members of Parliament approved of everything that Jammeh does, including the slaughtering of so many young children.
The loyalty of a Secretary of State (SOS) is not to be compared with that of an elected Member of Parliament (MP), albeit from the same political party. An SOS is and should be loyal to the one who gave him the post. An SOS is answerable only to the President or some obscure parliamentary committee, but not directly to the people. The SOS could be hired today and fired tomorrow, as Jammeh has so often demonstrated.
An MP, on the other hand, is elected by the people to represent them in parliament. His allegiance should undoubtedly be to those who cast their votes for him. It had been the habits of past MP's to promise the electorate before an election and then forget them after entering parliament. The fate of those MP's should be a sound reminder to those who are in the National Assembly today. There were in the past year some unpleasant developments where MP's were embarrassingly indifferent to the plight of the people. The best examples that came to mind are the recent treatment of our hard working farmers by the government and the merciless slaughtering of innocent children. Right now, government officials are coercing these poor farmers to pay their rates and taxes with money they never received. To hear the APRC's Jarra-Central MP, Foday Lang Sarr, saying that his people were not interested in Yaya Jammeh's involvement in the crude oil affair, my heart went to the poor farmers in his constituency. The insensitivity that this MP shows towards his very people, seems to be typical of the National Assembly
We can write and say anything about the ineffective and corrupt government of Sir Dawda Jawara, but farmers have never been so hard up in his time than what is at present happening in the Gambia. Yet I have not heard a single comment against the treatment of these poor and hard working farmers, from some of our members of parliament. In fact, more people have been killed in the six years that Yaya Jammeh is in office than the whole thirty years Jawara's corrupt regime. The National Assembly CAN and SHOULD put a stop to this Yaya's senselessness.
In an interview with the magazine "WEST AFRICA" in January of 1997, Yaya Jammeh said "We are here to deliver the goods to the people and not to take from the people". A notion he repeated many times in that interview. In retrospect, one could see that Yaya was doing exactly the opposite of what he was telling the journalist and also about that time the questions of the Taiwan Millions were still unanswered. Now that the accusations are the same as the Missing Taiwan Millions, still some members of parliament are toying with the issue, in such a way that people are wondering whether some of these members are not partakers of the "oil money". Well, if it is so, then it would not be wrong to call our parliament "A Lubricated National Assembly", where most members are "smeared" with the CRUDE OIL.
I, therefore, call on all members of the National Assembly to exercise their mandate on Monday 26th June, to get to the bottom of the matter. The activities of Yaya Jammeh's regime is sinking our nation into an abyss. It is therefore the duty of all Gambia loving member of Assembly to act positively to stop Yaya's destructive practices.
THE GAMBIA DESERVES BETTER.
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4 THE GAMBIA
For The Gambia, our homeland
We strive and work and pray,
That all may live in unity,
Freedom and peace each day.
Let justice guide our actions
Towards the common good,
And join our diverse peoples
To prove man's brotherhood.
We pledge our firm allegiance,
Our promise we renew;
Keep us, great God of nations,
To The Gambia ever true.
Prince Coker
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